Defense Ministry launches Kosmos satellite

At 10:04 a.m. Moscow time, a Tsiklon-2 booster rocket put a Russian Defense Ministry Kosmos series military satellite into orbit, the Russian Space Forces told RIA Novosti.

The Space Troops and the Federal Space Agency jointly launched the rocket from launch pad 20.

This was the 105th Tsiklon-2 booster rocket launched by the Space Forces for the Defense Ministry, and the third launch in 2004.

According to information from the G.S. Titov Main Test Center and the Space Troops Control Center, the rocket launched normally. The Kosmos satellite was launched to increase the number of military satellites in orbit.

The Tsiklon-2 is a two-stage liquid-propellant light-class booster rocket designed to launch satellites with a mass of up to 3,200 kilograms into circular orbits. It was developed by the Yuzhnoye design office and manufactured by NPO Yuzhmash (Dnepropetrovsk). The rocket was jointly designed by Ukraine and Russian enterprises to satellites into optimal circular and elliptic orbits to conserve energy. The rocket was based on the R-36 intercontinental ballistic missile which was launched for the first time in 1968.

Since 1969, 104 Tsiklon-2 rockets have been launched from Baikonur, all of which have been successful.